It was probably eight o'clock in the evening, the time when nightclubs were in full swing, with the dance floor a mass of writhing bodies, exuding a strong smell of hormones.
Meanwhile, Mr. Higashizawa was in a private room discussing business with a client.
Chu Yang's entry into the nightclub was not smooth; his youthful face clearly marked him as underage, and he was stopped by the security guard outside.
Left with no choice, he simply removed the main door right in front of the security guard and placed it aside.
The security guard quieted down.
After all, was a salary of over a hundred thousand yen a month worth risking his life for?
Using his Observation Haki, Chu Yang quickly located the private room where Mr. Higashizawa was. He had just closed a big deal and was preparing to reward himself, wanting to play a game of knight and princess with the young ladies in the room.
Just as he was 'riding,' Chu Yang suddenly appeared behind him and poked him hard in the lower back with his finger.
Mr. Higashizawa's eyes rolled back, and he immediately fainted from the pain.
He might never be able to 'ride' anyone again in his life.
When Mr. Higashizawa woke up, he found himself suspended in the center of a park lake, completely wrapped in branches and vines, swaying precariously.
"Help! Someone, please help me!"
Naked, Higashizawa disregarded his shame and desperately shouted for help. The branches binding him were already showing signs of loosening, and it wouldn't be long before he fell into the lake.
The bad news was that he couldn't swim.
If no one saved him, he would be a floating corpse the next day, becoming a front-page headline in the newspapers.
In his panic, Higashizawa saw a student standing on the shore, staring at him indifferently. He immediately felt as if he had found a savior and shouted at the student, "Young man, save me."
The young man didn't respond, only asking coldly, "Yosuke Honkawa, do you still remember him?"
Hearing the familiar name, Higashizawa's face changed, and then he stammered, "Yosuke... Honkawa? This is the first time I've heard that name. Never mind that, young man, please find a way to save me first. Once I'm down, I'll definitely repay you well."
Chu Yang looked at the other party with a scornful gaze, as if he were an idiot, and sneered, "Are you drunk and stupid? There are only two of us here. Who do you think tied you to the tree?"
"You?" Higashizawa's eyes widened, and he angrily cursed. Connecting it to Chu Yang mentioning Yosuke Honkawa earlier, he suddenly realized, "Are you that bastard Honkawa's family? I warn you, let me down quickly, or I'll call the police!"
Chu Yang lightly stomped his foot, and the branches and vines binding Higashizawa loosened considerably, with only his feet still tied.
Without the restraint of the branches, Higashizawa plunged headfirst into the water. After most of his body was submerged, he began to struggle violently.
Seeing his bloated appearance, Chu Yang knew his lung capacity wouldn't be great, so he pulled him up after counting to thirty seconds.
After thirty seconds in the icy lake water, the naked Higashizawa was shivering and gasping, unable to even complete a plea for mercy.
"When are you going to give Yosuke Honkawa's compensation money to his family?"
"Compensation? That guy died in an accident. Go ask the insurance company for compensation. What does it have to do with me?"
Chu Yang clicked his tongue in wonder, "Truly, you value money over your life."
With that, Chu Yang manipulated the branches to submerge him in the lake again, then pulled him up, repeating the process like blanching hotpot ingredients, giving him a "seven ups and eight downs."
This time, Higashizawa was truly scared. He felt that this young man really dared to kill, and if he continued to be stubborn, he would probably die here tonight.
"Please let me go, I'll pay the money immediately!" Higashizawa pleaded frantically, his attitude exceptionally sincere.
Chu Yang smiled with satisfaction but didn't immediately let him down. Instead, he continued to 'hotpot' him two or three more times before finally placing the barely conscious Higashizawa on the ground and transferring some life force to him.
Higashizawa gasped for several deep breaths, his pale complexion gradually turning rosy.
Having walked back and forth before the Ghost Gate several times, Higashizawa felt nothing but fear towards Chu Yang.
This guy was a lunatic, a pervert, a serial killer!
Before letting Higashizawa go, Chu Yang warned him with a benevolent smile, "You can choose to call the police, but let me remind you first, I'm an orphan. I have no family, no ties whatsoever."
After such torment, how could Higashizawa dare to call the police?
His mind was now entirely focused on resolving the matter peacefully, wanting to quickly send this plague god away.
"No, absolutely not. I'll go give the money to Honkawa's family right now." Higashizawa said this, then took off running, completely naked, shivering in the cold night wind, yet still running incredibly fast!
There weren't many people in the park late at night, let alone in the coldest area in the center of the lake. However, after leaving the park, Higashizawa immediately felt countless gazes focused on him.
"There's a pervert! Everyone, run!"
"Ah! My eyes! Everyone, quickly close your eyes!"
"God, please give me a new pair of eyes, my eyes are already defiled!"
"The world is going to the dogs, truly going to the dogs!"
Besides the curses, some old men and women who had seen much in life calmly took out their phones and started taking pictures.
Tomorrow morning, someone would definitely make the news headlines.
Higashizawa, foreseeing this scene, ran frantically under the flashing lights with his face covered, crystal tears tracing paths down his cheeks.
"Damn it!!!"
On the other side, Chu Yang was about to leave the park but was stopped by an unexpected person.
"Are you here to help that uncle demand compensation?" Kurosaki Ichigo stood on the steps at the park entrance, looking down at Chu Yang.
"You saw all that?" Chu Yang asked in surprise. Because he was in modern society, he didn't have the habit of constantly using his Observation Haki and hadn't noticed Kurosaki Ichigo nearby at all.
"I just saw that uncle run out of here naked. What did you do to him?" Kurosaki Ichigo scratched his head.
"Don't look at me with that strange gaze. I just dipped him in the lake water, that's all." Chu Yang waved his hand, signaling Kurosaki Ichigo to move aside.
Kurosaki Ichigo stepped aside, clearing a path for Chu Yang. As Chu Yang ascended the steps, he instinctively followed him.
The area where Yosuke Honkawa's soul wandered was not far from the school, so it was normal for Kurosaki Ichigo to have seen him. He most likely learned from Yosuke Honkawa that Chu Yang was coming to help demand compensation, which is why he was loitering nearby.
After all, Chu Yang only gave the impression of an ordinary high school student. How could he demand compensation from the owner of a construction company? In Kurosaki Ichigo's opinion, Chu Yang would most likely get beaten up, so he came to see if he could help.
But what Kurosaki Ichigo hadn't expected was that Chu Yang had easily handled Mr. Higashizawa, who didn't seem easy to deal with. He suddenly became curious about Chu Yang.
Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't the type to keep things bottled up, so he couldn't help but ask Chu Yang, "When did you start seeing souls?"
"Since I was little." Chu Yang replied casually. Anyway, his family was gone, and no one else could verify it.
Kurosaki Ichigo nodded silently. Chu Yang's situation was quite similar to his own.
Kurosaki Ichigo asked, "Will that guy honestly pay the compensation?"
Chu Yang stopped and looked back at him.
Kurosaki Ichigo explained, "What I mean is, generally, construction company owners have connections with local gangs. The way you treated him today, he definitely won't be convinced. He might retaliate against you tomorrow, or even against your family."
"I don't have a family for him to retaliate against." Chu Yang smiled, saying meaningfully, "Generally, people who get retaliated against are those who didn't do things ruthlessly enough. If you genuinely make the other party feel fear, where would they find the courage to retaliate?"
With that, Chu Yang continued walking forward.
Kurosaki Ichigo stood still, thinking for a moment, then silently followed behind.
"That uncle at the school gate used to seem a bit off. I often avoided him, but today he was a little different. I curiously asked him a question, and he said..."
Kurosaki Ichigo said with a strange expression, "He said you slapped him a few times, and he sobered up."
"Can you touch souls?"
At this moment, the two had just walked out of the park. Chu Yang didn't answer his question and walked straight in the direction of home.
"Today's Q&A session ends here!"
Hearing Chu Yang's voice, Kurosaki Ichigo was stunned.
He turned and left in another direction.
The next day after school, the two of them tacitly appeared near Yosuke Honkawa's house again.
"What a coincidence."
"This can no longer be described as a coincidence. Are you stalking me?"
"Idiot, don't make such jokes. They're not funny at all."
Chu Yang and Kurosaki Ichigo arrived at the door of a house, squabbling. The nameplate read 'Honkawa Family,' clearly indicating that both of them were there to confirm whether Yosuke Honkawa's family had received the compensation.
"Ring the doorbell. Why are you staring at me? Don't you have hands?"
"You did it, shouldn't you be the one to press it?"
"Then why did you follow me? Are you a pervert?"
"Did you get some kind of venomous tongue certification? Your mouth is truly annoying!"
"Thanks for the compliment!"
Kurosaki Ichigo's temples bulged with veins from anger.
After taking a few deep breaths, he decided not to argue with Chu Yang and reached out to press the doorbell.
Honkawa's wife came out of the house with a wary expression.
Upon seeing two students, her expression immediately relaxed considerably.
Kurosaki Ichigo mentally organized his words, then explained his purpose, falsely claiming that he was a student who had previously received assistance from Yosuke Honkawa and had come specifically to visit him today.
Then the two sides began chatting, exchanging greetings for quite a while, until Chu Yang learned from the conversation that Higashizawa had delivered the compensation money last night.
The amount of compensation was several times higher than what the court had ruled, showing that Higashizawa was afraid Chu Yang would find an excuse to retaliate against him afterward.
A moment later, the two returned to the road near the school, ready to inform Yosuke Honkawa of this news.
Who would have thought that Yosuke Honkawa wasn't there? Chu Yang and Kurosaki Ichigo waited for a while, but they didn't see him until it got dark.
"Perhaps he knew about this earlier than us and has already ascended to Buddhahood?"
Kurosaki Ichigo stretched, yawned, and his stomach rumbled with hunger, so he couldn't bear it any longer and prepared to go home.
Looking at the empty road, Chu Yang frowned deeply. He also felt that Kurosaki Ichigo made sense, but he had a strong intuition that Yosuke Honkawa had not left.
Recalling how the other party had been in a muddled state earlier.
He even had a tendency to attack people, which made Chu Yang increasingly feel that something must have happened.
Construction company!
A flash of insight sparked in Chu Yang's mind.
That might be the place of Yosuke Honkawa's deepest obsession. If he still didn't know that Higashizawa had given the compensation to his family, he would definitely look for Higashizawa.
Thinking of this, Chu Yang immediately rushed towards the construction company's location.